Page "Colonialism" Paragraph 157

:" The decisiveness of the short period of colonialism and its negative consequences for Africa spring mainly from the fact that Africa lost power.

Power is the ultimate determinant in human society, being basic to the relations within any group and between groups.

It implies the ability to defend one ’ s interests and if necessary to impose one ’ s will by any means available.

In relations between peoples, the question of power determines manoeuvrability in bargaining, the extent to which one people respect the interests of another, and eventually the extent to which a people survive as a physical and cultural entity.

When one society finds itself forced to relinquish power entirely to another society that in itself is a form of underdevelopment .... During the centuries of pre-colonial trade, some control over social political and economic life was retained in Africa, in spite of the disadvantageous commerce with Europeans.

That little control over internal matters disappeared under colonialism.

Colonialism went much further than trade.

It meant a tendency towards direct appropriation by Europeans of the social institutions within Africa.

Africans ceased to set indigenous cultural goals and standards, and lost full command of training young members of the society.

Those were undoubtedly major steps backwards .... Colonialism was not merely a system of exploitation, but one whose essential purpose was to repatriate the profits to the so-called ‘ mother country ’.

From an African view-point, that amounted to consistent expatriation of surplus produced by African labour out of African resources.

It meant the development of Europe as part of the same dialectical process in which Africa was underdeveloped.